This is the second and final part of a series on Mojiko, Kitakyushu. Mojiko’s waterside is a quiet place with a park like atmosphere most notable for its unobstructed view of Shimonoseki across the Kanmon Strait and being a place…
Mojiko I: Taisho Roman Town
In the early 20th century Yokohama and Kobe were Japan’s first and second most important ports, places through which new foreign goods flowed and passengers embarked vessels to go abroad and discover new ideas and those coming to bring them…
Okinawa’s Hospital Caves: Where the Island’s Daughters Went to War
Though it can be read as a standalone article, this is the fourth in a series on the Himeyuri Student Corps and follows their story from Haebaru and Itokazu to the southern caves in Itoman and also looks at caves…
Abuchiragama: Natural Cave Turned Wartime Hospital
Though it can be read as a standalone article, this is the third in a series on the Himeyuri Student Corps covering one of the caves used to support the Haebaru Okinawa Army Hospital. On the surface the only tell-tale…
Haebaru’s Hellish Hospital Tunnels: Haebaru Okinawa Army Hospital Tunnel No. 20
Though it can be read as a standalone article, this is the second in a series on the Himeyuri Student Corps where we follow their story to the place they first went to war, the Haebaru Okinawa Army Hospital. A…
Himeyuri Corps: Female High School Student Nurses during the Battle of Okinawa
During World War II Japan expected everyone to do their part in securing the nation’s unquestionable ultimate victory and this included teenagers. On the mainland high school students were drafted en masse to work in munitions factories turning out weapons…
Living in Taisho’s Tokyo: Shitamachi Museum and Kamiya Bar
Divided by a rigid caste system until the Meiji Restoration, Edo was stratified between those who lived in Yamanote, the lords and samurai, and Shitamachi, the more common classes such as craftsman and merchants. Shitamachi means “low town” which refers…
Visiting Old Tokyo at the Edo-Tokyo Tatemono
Tokyo is a place constantly in change. Buildings rise and fall, little is sacred, but if you want to see a little bit of that Old Tokyo that’s mostly escaped us and learn about the great city’s past in…
Nostalgic Romance in Kitakyushu
I checked my Seikosha pocket watch, drawing it as close as the watch chain holding it to my waist coat would allow. It wasn’t unexpected, but she was late. It was mid-day on the Mojiko Station square and the sun…
Demon Slayer’s Taisho Secrets
I just finished watching Demon Slayer, an anime about Kamado Tanjiro, a boy hunting for the demon who slaughtered his family and turned his sister Nezuko into one. A tale full of memorable characters, a compelling story and great shonen…